And then came the premiership……and money. Blackburn, Leeds United, Chelsea and of course Manchester United have all shown that success now has only one road leading to it; the spending one. Sure there’ll be the occasional Everton, who work their way into the top four, but it usually takes a matter of minutes afterwards before the lack of squad investment exposes them also. A quick look at todays EPL table could just as easily be a reflection of squad investment in the last five years. It’s why about 14 teams start every EPL season without the slightest, realistic hope of anything above a comfortable mid table position. Because class always tells over a season, and class in the amounts that are needed to do well, can really only be bought.

For Celtic the fall has been even more abrupt. An over reliance on cast offs or players available on “second tier” frees (those available after the EPL and other leagues have had their pick) has resulted in a situation where even second place is now a struggle for a team who had previously seen second place as failure. There was a time, very recently, when Celtic differentiated themselves from the Kilmarnocks and Dundee Uniteds of this world  all over the pitch. Now you really can’t tell there’s much of a difference.

No Champions League revenue equals no squad investment equals parity with everyone else.

Liverpool and Celtic are now trading heavily on their names. Largely full of players who really are not fit to wear the shirt, they expect Wigan and St. Mirren to fall over and die because….well because it’s Liverpool and Celtic. And like young kids who have no respect for their elders these “lesser” teams are now approaching these games as fixtures that they expect to take something out of. Why not? Are Lucas, Insua, Agger, Kuyt and even Mascherano anything that any team should really fear? And what of Celtic? Now full of players who ended up in Paradise rather than set out to go there, this team has lost it’s identity. And, of course, if you pay peanuts……

Fans of both clubs will plead the “temporary lull” case; they’re just at the bottom of a bad cycle, caused by some poor management decisions and a bit of bad luck. The reality of both situations is that maybe six or more quality additions are necessary, at a minimum, and the money just isn’t there. In Liverpool’s case the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the money is elsewhere, so the Manchester Citys and Tottenhams of this world are coming on strong. Maybe they won’t make it this year, but they’ve taken Liverpool to April and if they don’t see it through to May, they’ll be back stronger next year.

Time for Liverpool and Celtic fans to stop looking behind and start looking around. Respect and success must be bought.

Reports suggest that Rickey Flutey is being approached to come in as a replacement. While Flutey has the game to improve Munsters backline Munster must look past their own aspirations and provide the opportunity for the next Keith Earls to come through. Rugby, more than any other sport, has a habit of turning out remarkable talent once that talent is exposed. Take Johnny Sexton as a prime example; I have absolutely no doubt that Sexton would have continued to languish behind Felipe Contepomi had the Argentinean not been injured in last years Heinekin Cup semi-final and had he not already decided to ply his trade elsewhere. Who knows how many more Sextons or Earls there are, just waiting for the exposure.

The IRFU who stand head and shoulders above any other sports administrative body on these islands need to push their interest to the forefront here and not allow money and exposure to be lost to help other countries succeed in New Zealand. They must cap even tighter the spend and number of players that play with our provinces from overseas, especially in key positions.

As a diehard, “hate Kerry” Corkman it’s difficult to admit. Paul Galvin was hard done by; simple and plain. It was clear on the night the incident happened and nothing can be shown to suggest the contrary from any of the Setanta camera angles. Galvin and Eoin Cadogan were “victims” of a game beginning to get out of control and suffered more because of the timing of the incident, coming at the end of a particularly heated few minutes, than for the severity of the incident itself. The two tangled with no more malice or intent than many others on that night and many more since then.

Why then, in the sight of clear video evidence, was the decision to suspend not reversed? One has to believe that it’s not, as most Kerrymen would suggest, evidence of an anti-Galvin campaign. Yes he is watched more closely than most inter county footballers, but not to the extent where anyone could rightfully claim malice towards from the administrative powers that be in the GAA. If that were really the belief in Kerry, we’d have more than just Jack O’Connor’s discontent aired.

The truth is that the committees charged with making these decisions are simply incapable of admitting that they made a mistake. Better to continue to perpetrate a farscicle decision than to replace it with a sensible one. Better to have a process where a television camera can be the sole material for prosecuting a suspension but can’t have any part in reversing one.

As mentioned in previous offerings, the people who administer these great games will become more and more exposed as the combination of more revealing media technology, the growing power of the players lobby and the current, evolving, cultural climate that questions traditional authority.

I have no doubt but that we will look back on these times with some disbelief in the near future.

Now that we’re three months out from the injustices of Paris perhaps we should look back in anger at the things we could have changed that night. Maybe, instead of accepting that the combination of Thierry Henry and Mr. Hansson was the start, middle and end of our problems that night, we should step in back ten minutes or so in time to the point when we needed our bench to take us past what looked to me like an almost beaten French team. While Andy Reid, who was on the best run of form in his career and had the ability to pick apart what was left of the French was sitting watching the game on TV, we brought on Darren Gibson, who hadn’t kicked a ball in anger in almost two months. Unfair on Gibson, unfair on Reid, unfair on the rest of the squad and unfair on the fans. Forgotten and unmentioned in the wake of the injustice of the goal decision and probably in deference to a manager who has since made sounds that he might not stay around.

Fast forward to this week and our inconsequential friendly game against Brazil. With the next major tournament now two and a bit years away, Trappatoni earlier this week admitted that he would play the same team he started against France, if he could. In effect he starts off the next phase of his tenure by changing nothing, in the hopes, I guess, that the same tiring legs that couldn’t beat Italy, Bulgaria or Montenegro will somehow take us through another campaign and get us to Poland, when most of the squad will see the age of 30 fading fast in the rear view mirror.

The manager owes his employers and the Irish fans a little more than the ability to get more out of the same players than his predecessor, who is now failing at bottom of League Two Darlington. To be fair, any League of Ireland manger could probably have improved on Staunton and at a fraction of the salary that Denis O’Brien kindly pays Trapattoni.

At a time when the combination of the economic downturn and the abject failure of leadership in our various institutions has caused Irish people to re-evaluate those that hold power,maybe it’s time that we applied the same “value for money” test to our Giovanni.

Stuff happens on the field, regardless of the code. Players get fired up, games are physical and lines are crossed. It’s once the whistle is blown that the similarity between rugby, and seemingly every other sport, ends. For those involved in GAA the whistle is seemingly the invitation to open a dialogue with the referee that continues until the end of the game. The exposure of foul play on camera is just another way for “those that have it in for us” to get another dig in. Forget that the incidents themselves largely warrant the punishment, let’s hide behind the persecution shield, do our best to cloud the issue on the day and use any measure afterwards to obstruct the games efforts at achieving a just punishment.

Contrast that to the attitude of the average rugby player and fan. Even in the face of the occasional wrong decision a rugby player will stand, listen to the admonishment from the referee, usually apologise and then take their ten minutes in the bin if deemed necessary. Should any more punishment be needed in subsequent citing hearings, it is almost always taken with the appropriate acceptance and a sincerity in showing remorse.

Contrast the approach of Alan Quinlan when he learned that his own onfield transgression wrecked his last chance to wear a Lions shirt with, say, that of the Cork County Board a year or so earlier when they helped Anthony Lynch escape a ban based on a technicality of  the referee’s report on his sending off offence.

As the Irish public become less segregated in their support of sports, the powers that be at all levels of GAA need to understand that the unwavering support of the staunch GAA supporter is diminishing and being replaced by a healthier, more demanding follower who knows, and will call out, “fudging” when they see it.

Does any other six nations team fear Paris nearly as much as Ireland? Take Scotland. I realise that they’re struggling to win a game anywhere, but is Paris any more daunting to them than say London, Dublin or Cardiff? They don’t talk about it if it is, but the likelihood is that it isn’t. Wales and England, with their pedigree and despite their inferior squad to Ireland travel to Paris every other year more in expectation than hope. Why shouldn’t they? It’s another game against a decent side, just like last week, just like next week.

What is it then that has the entire press corp, if not the squad itself, squirming in anticipation at having to face the French away from Dublin? Why is it that we can say with some certainty right now, that we’ll have a better chance of winning the championship in three years time, when we have to travel to three away games, than we will in four years when we have only two trips?

I remember travelling with little or no hope to Munster football finals every year for ten years from the mid seventies, knowing that Cork had as good a team as Kerry. You just felt that we just weren’t going to win and so it turned out, year after year. As Cork supporters we knew to a man that we’d have to be two goals better than Kerry to beat them by a point. I watched some of the best footballers of their generation grow old on one game a year. The trip to France every two years has that same inevitable feeling.

It will be a shame if O’Connell, Wallace and some of the other Irish players, currently at their career peak, end it without having tasted a Parisian victory. It’ll be an even bigger shame if Earls, Kearney and Heaslip have to contend with the same historical burden every other year.

1984 saw the end of the Cardiff hoodoo and we haven’t looked back since.  One hopes that the Paris trip becomes like the Cardiff one, holding no more fear for us than any other venue.

Including Sexton in Saturday’s starting line-up against the World and Tri Nations Champions is more than an acknowledgment of form. It’s Kidney’s signature move on the Autumn Series. It’s a statement of intent. We’re calling the shots, we’re upping the ante, we’re making the move, you react. We abandoned the combination of Garryowens and “abrasiveness” we were known for when the current current golden crop of players first started and the advent of the professional era saw the end of Irish sides that would die with ten minutes to go. Now we’re one step further on; we have options, and visiting teams, even the World Champions, need a serious analysis of what we’ll bring at 2:30 next Saturday. Chances are they won’t be quite sure until they experience it firsthand.

This move is also another step in the true development of a Irish squad that will eventually be in a position to overcome any injury, regardless of position. Ireland will soon be able to comfortably play any game that is necessary from a tight controlled encounter to an all out slugfest; both on the same day if necessary, preferably by the same players.

Whether or not Sexton is a success on Saturday is almost a side issue. What matters now is that we have a new seam of players who are willing, ready and able to bring something different. Exciting times lie ahead.

Despite this, people (managers and fans) expect them to agree with all of the calls that we can now make from our monitors, armed with multiple angles, super slow motion, high resolution, ten minutes to make a decision and the promptings of more than the occasional ex pro pundit who never liked the referees anyway. Throw in high paced and skillful cheating footballers, the bellowing managers, who often may have their careers riding on such decisions, the ever growing band of players who have their own ideas on what decision should be made and an average of 40,000 fans who bay for blood and you have an untenable situation for a single human being tasked with making an instant decision from a sometimes impossible angle.

The solution is simple. Technology must be applied where possible. It makes no sense to have the means available to be right and end up being wrong just because you won’t use it. And teh resons for not using it? Let’s deal with them, one at a time.

It won’t solve all of the problems. Correct; but we shouldn’t try to. Or at least we shouldn’t have to wait to make progress until we have everything solved. Let’s sort out some crucial ones first, let’s take penalties and offside goals, and take it from there. Surely a system whereby we would have no more goals awarded that were offside and no more penalties awarded where a foul was not committed is infinitely better than the situation we have at present.  Even if 80% of this problem is solved it has to be judged as progress.

It will interrupt the flow of the game. Incorrect. The time that elapses currently after a penalty or goal has been awarded can be used to get the decision right. A referee thinks a penalty should be awarded; he blows his whistle, points to the spot and then gives the man with access to the technology 60 seconds to give him a reason to change his mind. It happens all the time in rugby; “Alan, can you give me a good reason why I should not award that penalty/goal?”. If technology is inconclusive, we go with the original decision, otherwise we do the right thing.

It’s changing the spirit of the game. Rubbish. Sky television, the Champions League, the real cost of relegation, the managers, players and fans have made this game unrecognisable from what it was when your dad was a lad. Accept it and move on. You’ll lose nothing and gain justice more than occasionally.

Making a change in the premier league makes it inconsistent with the other English leagues, with Europe and with the International game. So? If the Premier League is the standard bearer for world football, why not show that it is in an innovative and practical way? If it works, and it will, it will be right and other leagues will follow suit given the wherewithal, if it doesn’t, it can be reverted.

There is no doubt in my mind that it’s just a matter of time before this move is made. It may take someone being relegated or losing out on a Champions League spot because of a David Ngog stunt, but it will happen.

And while we’re at, let’s also mike up the referees conversations with the players who currently show a complete lack of respect, and selectively broadcast them. How long before would it be before the owners of Premier League clubs, Adidas, Nike and the various other “interested” parties remind their stars that people are now listening and brands can’t be tarnished? About five minutes I reckon.

Kerry have proven yet again, if proof were needed, that the better teams do whatever is needed to get to the dance, then they dance. There’s little point in playing your best games on the way to the final if it gets you nothing more than the team you are facing. In this modern age of professional sports a sustained momentum cannot be maintained for months. Form dips, players tire and perhaps most importantly the wisest of managers know when their teams need to peak.

Joe Girardi, manager of the new World Series Champion New York Yankees, when asked if he was confident about his team being so much better than their opponents in advance of the final remarked that it wasn’t the team who played best all year that would win, but the team who played best in October. Alex Ferguson has said on many occasions that all he wants from the first six months of the season is for his team to just get themselves into position in March, knowing that this is when the real title race begins. Conversely, Graham Henry knows what being the best team in world rugby for three years leading up to the last World Cup got New Zealand; nothing.

And so it is that many a Munster fan are looking at their team after two months of a patchy season and wondering where their team have gone. Another whipping at the hands of Leinster, two miserable outings to Scotland and a patch Heinekin Cup opener in Northampton have diehards questioning everything from squad morale to Ronan O’Gara to Jean De Villiers.

Maybe some players are bang out of form. Perhaps the Lions tour is still taking a toll. Could be that Declan Kidney’s Irish needs have determined a different training regime this season that doesn’t suit the players concerned at this time.

I’d suggest the answer is simpler and more subtle. Munster coach Tony McGahan and his staff would have spent most of their summer contemplating how the most promising season imaginable effectively ended with the glorious quarter final victory over the Ospreys, a Magners League title notwithstanding. They’d have thought of how on the same day that they demolished a worthy opponent in every facet of the game, Leinster were grinding a result at Harlequins. Munster were never going to get any better; it simply wasn’t possible.

The best coaches examine every minute detail to get some improvement; they don’t miss details that are this big. The best teams rarely make the same mistakes twice; especially not when they’ve had so much time to dwell on such a devastating defeat.

Munster just want to get to next April still competing, in whatever way they can. They’d take an away draw at Toulouse right now, such will be their appetite for redemption.

As always happens in this situation the moral high ground will immediately be sought by those that claim that wearing the jersey is an honour and that players should just play. Who knows what an honour it is to wear the jersey better than Damien Reale, Dan Shanahan, Diarmuid McMahon or Ben O’Connor? Does anybody who takes that higher ground know what it feels like to slog through November mornings in the gym and January nights on the training field just to get ready for 70 minutes in May? While we give next year’s championship the occasional thought these players use it as their only motivation to survive the professional fitness standards set for them for six months before they leave their dressing room for the first game. You don’t get to line out at 3:30 on championship day if you don’t know what it took to get you there and how much it means to those around you.

The weakest link theory stretches way beyond the skill of the players that take the field and the bench that backs them up in any modern game. It extends into nutrition, fitness, tactics, team spirit and many other facets that are entrusted to a group that won’t take the field when the time comes but who are equally as vital to the success or failure. That group needs the trust of all concerned, least of all the players who have to deliver on the combined effort come game day. It’s one thing losing to a better team and leaving your aspirations behind for another year, it’s another thing saying goodbye when you know your team’s potential has not been maximised through shortcomings in preparation or tactics.

The GAA powers that be have a choice real here. Either they accept that this is an intelligent group of people who need some say in all aspects of the effort that will culminate in them taking the field next May, or revert to type, bury their heads in the sand and claim righteousness in exercising their exclusivity in choosing the management team, because that’s the way it’s always been done.

Surely looking at what happened to Cork hurling in 2009 would be a useful exercise. Cork will likely rebound in 2010, because they have the talent and resources to do so.

Do Limerick, Clare or whatever county comes next have a year to waste?